Undergraduate / Money is what matters to me- Stanford app [4]

What matters to you and why?

What matters to me most is money. " wow, really? this person must be really greedy" is what some people might think of my answer, but it is true. money is what matters to me ever since my mother lost her job. Many sacrifices had to be made, but one that really pains me the most is giving up golf. It all started this past summer, I decided to get a job instead of practicing for the up coming golf season. I knew with out practicing I would not make it on the varsity team again and would just barely make the junior varsity team. My mother wanted me to play this year, but I took it upon myself to decide to not practice over the summer, but instead to save money. I would not be able to live with myself knowing that I would have been the burden of the family, just because I wanted to play golf .

So, I started to write this and stopped because I don't know if this would be appropriate, what I mean is should I write about like a issues happening in the world or stick with this? Then I felt like I am trying to get people to feel sorry for me, but I don't know maybe I am thinking about this to hard. If I should stick with this should I like reflect on how this experience changed me and what i have learned from it?

I just need some ideas on how to continue to write this or just completely scratch this. Please help me and thank you!

Undergraduate / 'obsession with Asian pop and Hispanic music' Stanford supplement letter to roommate [4]

Stanford supp.- letter to roommate

Dear Roommate,
Congrats, you and I both got into Stanford! I would shake your hand right now if we were in person, but an air hand shake is good for now. So, let me introduce myself, my name is Kristin Watkins and I am from Illinois, born in Michigan, and before Illinois, Minnesota. Therefore, I'm ready to experience the warm and toasty state of California.

As for our living situation, don't worry I'm not a messy person. Actually I'm very neat. My friends think I have OCD, but I completely disagree. I'm not that tidy, but when it comes to my school stuff, you may not want to touch.

I'm a very easy person to get along with and I have a excellent sense of humor. When we finally meet, I have to tell you the pizza joke. Well, it may be a little too cheesy. Speaking of cheese, I love to cook and try new food, so I hope you are up to hunting down the best restaurants and trying my newest recipe attempts. Also, I love learning about other cultures and especially listening to their music. Therefore, I would like to learn about your background and where you come from. Hopefully, my obsession with Asian pop and Hispanic music won't disturb you too much. I can't wait to meet you!

Sincerely,
Kristin Watkins

please critique heavily. i through this together pretty quickly just to start with something and i really suck at writing too.
also, should i use contractions or not?
thanks for your feedback